Axe with studio headphones

T

thricegod1288

Member
I just registered to this forum today. Im sure this thread is out there somewhere.

I have a pair of senhesier studio headphones not to expensive they were a little over 30 at guitar center, anyways

I wanna know if i can use these headphone for playing on an axe fx without a poweramp and without blowing up the headphones or my ears?
 
If you have any kind of recording interface with a headphones jack, then no problem. If not, then you're rollin' the dice.
 
I hope you have a computer with descent audio interface,
plug your AxeFx in there and plug your headphones in headphone/main out.
 
Well I used $30 headphones out of the line outs on my Vetta HD for hundreds of hours a couple years ago. And I have logged dozens of hours doing the same with the Axe-Fx. Never "blew" anything. This is before I had a nice computer sound interface. The line outs on the Axe-Fx are also line-level. I would think that you'd be in more danger of not being able to hear the Axe-Fx enough. All you need is a $6 Y-cable to join the L/R jacks of the Axe-Fx outputs into 1 single jack that headphones can plug into.

But yes, preferably you could plug the Axe-Fx into a mixer, headphone amp, or computer sound interface and use the actual headphone jack on it. Since they are cheap headphones, I'd say go for it (plugging in with a Y-cable). I've had great results, so I'd say your chances are good :)
 
My response was not intended to imply that you would necessarily "blow up" anything, just to point out that the Axe-Fx does not have a headphone output. It may not cause damage to plug in your 'phones to one of the line outs, but, since the Axe-Fx was never intended to drive them, a damage-free outcome is not guaranteed.
 
thanks for all the great responses guys. for a second i thought this was gonna be a snob site because of how expesive the axe fx is, you know like ultimate-guitar and jemsite. I just get really tired of getting flamed and trolled, over getting real responses.

so far everyone seems really cool. my computer doesnt have the worlds greatest sound card but i think it will be able to handle it, i just wanted to know because i want to be able to pull it from my rack and for home and studio use, then pop it back for a live situation.
 
A post from cliff states that this is fine. I am not sure where I read it but it is floating around somewhere. I have done it without issue.
 
jerotas said:
Well I used $30 headphones out of the line outs on my Vetta HD for hundreds of hours a couple years ago. And I have logged dozens of hours doing the same with the Axe-Fx. Never "blew" anything. This is before I had a nice computer sound interface. The line outs on the Axe-Fx are also line-level. I would think that you'd be in more danger of not being able to hear the Axe-Fx enough. All you need is a $6 Y-cable to join the L/R jacks of the Axe-Fx outputs into 1 single jack that headphones can plug into.

But yes, preferably you could plug the Axe-Fx into a mixer, headphone amp, or computer sound interface and use the actual headphone jack on it. Since they are cheap headphones, I'd say go for it (plugging in with a Y-cable). I've had great results, so I'd say your chances are good :)
Click to expand...

in your opinion did it still sound as good or was the tone altered?
 
Yeah the answer is actually YES, but its not really the intended manner, nor the best manner.. Cliff has stated that the line outs will drive headphones just fine, but it will be mono. I can't remember where i read it but yeah he did say that.

Just dont crank it up to any silly level.

Honestly though your'e missing out alot of you dont use it in stereo. I just keep my axe hooked up to my multi track recorder. I use that as a headphone amp, plus i can just hit record when inspiration strikes.
~mx~
 
thricegod1288 said:
jerotas said:
Well I used $30 headphones out of the line outs on my Vetta HD for hundreds of hours a couple years ago. And I have logged dozens of hours doing the same with the Axe-Fx. Never "blew" anything. This is before I had a nice computer sound interface. The line outs on the Axe-Fx are also line-level. I would think that you'd be in more danger of not being able to hear the Axe-Fx enough. All you need is a $6 Y-cable to join the L/R jacks of the Axe-Fx outputs into 1 single jack that headphones can plug into.

But yes, preferably you could plug the Axe-Fx into a mixer, headphone amp, or computer sound interface and use the actual headphone jack on it. Since they are cheap headphones, I'd say go for it (plugging in with a Y-cable). I've had great results, so I'd say your chances are good :)
Click to expand...

in your opinion did it still sound as good or was the tone altered?
Click to expand...

The tone is not altered, nor is it in MONO as another poster stated, if you use a Y-Cord as I did. If Cliff did indeed say that about the Mono, he is also wrong. If you plug the headphones directly into the L or R output it will be mono obviously. Just a simple Y-cord that is dual 1/4" mono MALE to single 1/4" stereo FEMALE will do the trick. It should be $6 at your local guitar center or Radio Shack. I pan cabs around and I definitely hear it go from one ear to the other.
 
If you're handy with electronics, headphone amps are simple and cheap. Simple mixers have a fine headphone amp for a good price, but avoid the audiophile headphone amps - most are outrageously overpriced (specially when you know what;s in them).

I built a high-end one (overkill, really) into a single rack box that also acts as a connection patchbay and power supply for my footcontroller:

http://www.fractalaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=9847&start=29
 
GM Arts said:
If you're handy with electronics, headphone amps are simple and cheap. Simple mixers have a fine headphone amp for a good price, but avoid the audiophile headphone amps - most are outrageously overpriced (specially when you know what;s in them).

I built a high-end one (overkill, really) into a single rack box that also acts as a connection patchbay and power supply for my footcontroller:

http://www.fractalaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=9847&start=29
Click to expand...
GM: Off topic: Why do you connect the pedals out to the Axe's pedal ins? And how do you wire that from the footcontroller?

Back on topic: a Behringer headphone amp is like $30.
I have used the line outs into a splitter cable and it works. Not very loud, though, possibly depending on the impedance.

As Jay says, they are not designed for that use, so be careful.
 
Dutch said:
GM: Off topic: Why do you connect the pedals out to the Axe's pedal ins? And how do you wire that from the footcontroller?
Click to expand...
Off topic reply: My MFC sends MIDI only, so I had 3 wires left unused in the 7-pin cable. It seemed an ideal way to add 2 momentary switches to the MFC (they can be standalone because they don't need LEDs or any logic interface with the rest of the MFC). It's also a practical way to earth the MFC. You can read about my home-made MFC here:
http://www.gmarts.org/html/mfc.htm
 
yek said:
marvinx said:
Yeah the answer is actually YES, but its not really the intended manner, nor the best manner.. Cliff has stated that the line outs will drive headphones just fine, but it will be mono. I can't remember where i read it but yeah he did say that.
~mx~
Click to expand...

Here:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=659975
Click to expand...

That's fine if he said that. I can't get to that page for some reason. However the Mono part is false if using Y-cord, don't be mistaken about that.
 
Alternatively, you could just pick up one of the tiny lil 4-output Behringer headphone amps. I used to have one of those in my recording set up; it worked fine and was dirt cheap. I've since given it to someone else after upgrading to a rack unit (more outs, EQ options for each out, aux ins, etc.), and as far as I know the Behringer is still going fine. It's a tiny lil box too, so it's not gonna take up much space. :)
 
I ran the unbalanced outs --> insert --> trs coupler --> headphones with no problem. at almost full output they got as loud as I wanted, so if you want to do that it's no big deal. you could always get a $100 mackie 402-vlz3 and you'd be set to do it right.
 
I'm about to order my Axe system (still trying to decide ultra vs standard), along with a mackie VLZ 402 mixer. I plan to use this exclusively with studio monitor headphones for now (I don't gig, and I'm not planning to spend money on FRFR amps/monitors/power amps and cabs) with my guitar going ---> Axe FX (stereo) ---> VlZ-402---> headphones. I'm also going to hook up my computer so i can play along to backing tracks and what not.

Any suggestions on my (future) setup?
 
dtk_king said:
I'm about to order my Axe system (still trying to decide ultra vs standard), along with a mackie VLZ 402 mixer. I plan to use this exclusively with studio monitor headphones for now (I don't gig, and I'm not planning to spend money on FRFR amps/monitors/power amps and cabs) with my guitar going ---> Axe FX (stereo) ---> VlZ-402---> headphones. I'm also going to hook up my computer so i can play along to backing tracks and what not.

Any suggestions on my (future) setup?
Click to expand...

+1 im trying to do all of this to i wanna be able to run my axe fx into my computer and play along to power tab, itunes, guitarpro, and custom backing track

I wanna know how to go about this as well?
 
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